Rachida Dati, who is running in the mayoral elections in Paris, has close ties with the Azerbaijani government. This is what President of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France Mourad Papazian, Editor-in-Chief of Nouvelles d’Arménie magazine Ara Toranian and member of the City Council of Ile-de-France Patrick Karam reported in an article published on Marianne online.

The article states that Dati is known for her close ties with the authoritarian authorities of Azerbaijan and has served as a member of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan, which has been considered the key tool for “caviar diplomacy” in France.

Rachida’s close ties with Aliyev’s regime were brilliantly expressed during the grand feast that she organized in honor of First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in 2011. The mayoral candidate of Paris has made statements against the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, especially after the war that Azerbaijan unleashed in 2016.

The authors of the article voiced hope that Rachida Dati will put an end to her special relations with the Azerbaijani authorities.